Drunk Texts
by jackravenrobyn
Summary: Waking up the morning after the night before, all Zuko wishes is to remember.


When Zuko woke his head pounded, his limbs ached and he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. If he was entirely honest, he didn't remember a great deal from the previous night. He groaned softly to himself as the sound of his uncle climbing the stairs assaulted his sensitive ears. He wanted to roll over to alleviate his dead arm but knew that doing so would disturb his stomach and make it roil. The thunderous booms grew closer and louder. The usually silent door screamed in protest as Iroh opened it to stick his head in.

"Nephew...who was the boy who crept out of the house at the crack of dawn?"

Zuko's heart thudded. He hadn't, had he? An experimental flex of his legs confirmed that he had. He had had drunken sex with a stranger. And in his own house, too!

"It sounded like you had fun, too."

"Uncle!" Zuko cried, mortified. Iroh chortled at his nephew's embarrassment, remembering the countless times he had gone out of his way to do the same thing to Lu Ten when he was Zuko's age.

Zuko had somehow managed to misplace his phone while drunk and despite searching for it later that day - after he had recovered - could not seem to find it. By the time he went to bed that night, he still hadn't managed to find it, and had resigned himself to having to invest in another.

He logged onto his laptop, and hesitated for a moment before typing to his best friend.  
_Z: Might need your help searching for my phone tomorrow...may have misplaced it at some point last night_  
_S: Wild night then?_  
_Z: Yeah, some serious stuff happened :/ tbh I don't remember most of it_  
_S: Now you see why I don't like going to Jet's, it gets /too/ wild!_

The next day at school, Sokka was a bit restrained with him. There was a tightness in his smiles, a sadness in his eyes. Zuko wondered if something had happened to GranGran or Hakoda, but knew that asking would achieve nothing. Sokka would only talk about it if he wanted to.

They went back to Zuko's after school. Usually they went to Sokka's, due to Zuko's unstable Home life. He had escaped his father's toxic household and had been taken in by his uncle after a particularly bad incident which left Zuko's face burnt. That had been a while ago and Zuko was only just beginning to feel comfortable with Iroh, and had managed to pluck up the courage to suggest that he might have a friend over.

Zuko struggled with the lock on the front door, still not used to it. Amid much cursing and half-hearted kicks to the front door, it swung open to reveal Iroh. The older man owned a small string of tea shops, and on quieter days often went home early. The two teens stepped into the hall.

"Ah, it's good to see you again!" Zuko looked between Sokka and Iroh in confusion.

"You know each other?" This made Iroh's face crumple in confusion. The older man looked to Sokka, who was shaking his head slightly with a desperate look in his eyes.

"Ah - yes. He comes into the tea shop from time to time." Zuko narrowed his eyes at them. Clearly they were hiding something from him.

Zuko had managed to distract himself from the odd behaviour while Sokka had been there, but now that he had gone Home he couldn't help but mull over it. After almost an hour of his thought processes going in circles, he hauled himself off of his bed and went in search of his uncle. He found the older man at the stove making dinner wearing a rather odd looking apron…Zuko had shuddered at the image permanently burnt into his brain. "How do you know Sokka?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded. He was straight to the point, not in the mood for small talk. "I told you, I have seen him in the tea shop from time to time-"

"Don't lie to me uncle! Sokka doesn't like tea!"

"I respect his decision to not tell you. If you want to know, ask him yourself. I don't blab!" Iroh began rummaging in the freezer, searching for something while Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Oh my, how did this get in here?" The older man pulled out a phone from the depths of the freezer. Zuko took the phone from his and – noticing the flashing light – left to read his new messages in private. He had been completely distracted from pestering his uncle about earlier events. He sat on the stairs and activated his phone. It was slow from the cold, and it took several attempts to unlock the screen, but eventually it did. The new message was from Sokka, at ten the previous morning, asking how Jet's was. Having already discussed it, he ignored the text and was about to exit out of his inbox when the messages above caught his eye. There were several in a row that he had sent which he didn't remember sending.

_Z: Hey sexy_

_Z: I want you inside me_

_Z: Please_

_Z: I'm waiting for you_

_Z: Naked_

_Z: In bed_

_Z: What's taking you so long?_

_S: Are you sure you want this?_

_Z: Just get in here and fuck me_

_S: I'm outside_

The texts from that night ended there. Zuko flopped onto his knees with a groan. He had slept with his best and felt no regret, other than the fact he remembered very little of it. It was no wonder Sokka had been so reserved all day. Zuko was unsure of how to bring up the subject with the other boy, was unsure how he wanted that conversation to go. After much circling and arguing with himself in his head, he reluctantly resolved to let Sokka make the first move. From the looks of his texts, Zuko had already done that, and by his reckoning it was Sokka's turn to initiate things.

The next day, nothing happened. Sokka had basketball practice after school, so they went to their respective homes instead of doing their homework together. The day after that, they went to Sokka's after school, the promise by his GranGran for their favourite curry for dinner heavily influencing their decisions.

"Oh god, do you hear yourselves?" Katara demanded in exasperation, clearly fed up with the older boys' uncharacteristic giggling and simpering. "You sound like you're _flirting_ with each other!" Zuko looked at Katara, blinked once, and addressed her brother. "I don't know about you, but I know I am." "Yeah, me too. That's kinda what you do when you like someone Katara." She huffed and stomped out of the room, muttering about how their pranks would never trick her. Sokka turned to Zuko once she could no longer be heard, one eyebrow raised. "Found your phone, huh?" Zuko had the grace to flush red. "Yeah. I did mean it…uh…that I like you. The alcohol just-" Zuko cut off his babbling abruptly when Sokka kissed him. It was chaste and done with the intention to stop the older boy from speaking. Needless to say, it worked. "Does this mean we can do it again?" Sokka asked, a mischievous glint in his eye and a playful teasing in his voice. "And everything else," Zuko agreed.

Katara re-entered the room five minutes later, after she had somewhat calmed herself. She promptly left again, "ew"-ing loudly at the sight of the two boys kissing and slowly feeling each other up on the sofa.


End file.
